The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1887-04-07
Criminal Courts.
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Of justice is 10 lay Q fresh load Of duty
upon every citisen. Weare responsible
for all the wrongs that exist with our
permission. IL d criminal goes free
through the laxity Of o Court, citisens
are responsible. II an offender is pun.
ished without the privilege Of trial the
injustice must be charged to each>and
every man. In q government Of "the
people by the people and for the people" !"
the people must be held to account for
sins of omission and commission alike.
If Courts are lame the public must play
the surgeon. Men who have been study.
ing the situation for years have at least
concluded that the seat Of the evil Is in
the jury system. 1t is the center around
which manifold perversions Of Justice
cluster. It is the venire that the crimi.
nal lawyer tampers with in order to
secure the men who will best suit his
purposes. It is before the jury.box that
he pours forth his strains of eloquence
and appeals for sympathy. 1t is into the
jury.room that the briber steals with his
fat purse and sweet smile. The method
of securing juries furnishes ample oppor-
tunity for packing and intrigues of every
variety. In the recent trial Of Cleary,
the New York Doodle alderman, nine
pannels were drawn and two hundred
and fifty persons were examined before
twelve men were found who satisfied
the attorneys. The qualifications are
too intricate for many minds to compre-
hend, and under concentrated fire from
brace of attorneys many men will pro.
fess an incempetency to govern their
own impressions which disqualifies them
for services. The jury is an inherited
institution. 1t is an heirloom of the
barbarism from which we are descended.
It is the ancient shrine over which the
stump.spcaker swears his allegiance to
home and native land. It has been
lionized and diefied in verse and story as
the palladium of our liberties and the
sacred safeguard of society. It is
reverenced as keepsake of our Anglo.
Saxon ancestry, and the American would
rather become hangman himself than
say aught against this time.honored in.
stitution. I have about as much Saxon
blood as anv man who advocates the
jury system, but have no respect for
age unless it be accompanied by worth.
I do not admire the antique enough to
wear ruffled shirt and q choker collar
simply because my grandfather indulged
in those luxuries. The jury system has
enough justice in it to be fitting part
Of the form Of government in which 1t
originated, but as component part of a
Republican government in the nine.
teenth century its insdequacy is receiv.
ing further proof day by day.
The basis upon which it rests is un.
reasonable. A juror must deal with
points Of law over which even lawyers
disagree. True, he is not expected to
decide upon the law points which are
presented to him, but he is required to
apply the law to the case under consid.
Grafton. Often the questions with which
jury grapples would puzzle jurists Of
the profoundest learning and widest ex.
perience. Is it any wonder that verdicta
are unsatisfactory? When you want
your ceiling papered do you send for a
blacksmith When you want your
piano tuned do you send for a brakeman
or timer? When you want criminal
justly condemned or Justly acquitted
why do you collect complex group
from every class of artisans extant ?
Let the farmer stick to his plow, the
sculptor to his chisel and the jurist to
his studies. The life or death, convict.
ion or acquittal Of prisoner at the ba,
is not question to be trifled with by
the capricious vagaries ofa chance dozen
of unskilled men. If one Judge be moi
enough elect twelve. Let the Courts be
in the hands Of men who understand
the routine of business transacted, and
who are capable Of applying the law ia
every case without being meddled by
the sly sophistry Of the criminal lawyer
or requiring the assistance Of the Courts
formal charge in weighty legal phrase
When lawyers are in the jury-box there
will be less paving the carpet for effect
outside the jury.box. There will be
fewer appeals to sympathy and more
sound reasoning on solid basis.
One word about criminal lawyers.
Many regard bad lawyer - an emissary
of the devil and he being ordained Ia
vex humanity by divine appointment We
must grin and bear him. The schemes
Of unprincipled men have much to dc
with securing the inadequate verdicte
which make the jury system 70 obnox
ious. The mean lawyer is not en-
ttrenched behind any invulnerable
defence. On complaint to the Court q
trial Of any lawyer may be instituted
and II the charges be properly sustained
the defendant will be disbarred. II you
are brave enough 10 LEAD bowling mol
to hanging matinee. be plucky enough